2025 Suspension Recommendations (by Snacktime)

[Sitruc_btb]

0.3” is probably negligible and it greatly depends on your use case. If you never cycle the front suspension much then not a concern really. If you do aggressively cycle the front I would imagine that there would be more severe wear on the CV internals.

AccuTune sells the king shocks with an internal limiter that reduces the extended length to 24.3” just to be safe. It is described in detail on their website if you are interested. Easy to find if you hunt around.

Makes sense. Thanks for the input. I read somewhere that 24.6" was the limit.
I'm interested in the RK shocks myself, but I'll worry about that in the future. In the meantime, I'll keep long term testing my spacers, lol.

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[crenca]

The Kings exceed the factory limits. Are owners with King shocks stressing the cv's? Or is 0.3" negligible?

Maybe I,m reading it wrong, but @87-Z28 chart has the King’s extending almost a full inch over OEM…not sure how significant that is to CV wear compared to .3”

 

[Sloth]

What are your thoughts on Dobinsons MMR coilovers set up for 2 1/2" lift in front, leveled in the rear? 2024, 4 door Badlands with tow package. No high-speed off-road driving, just moderate trails with articulation and about 500 to 600 lbs. of gear in the back and heavy rock sliders. Stock bumpers and no winch and 35" tires.

There are a few of us on the forum running Dobinsons…

I’m running the Dobinsons IMS coil overs on my 22 Wildtrack 4 door. They have multiple springs available depending on what weight you have added. I selected the heaviest springs front and rear to better support the metal bumper with winch, full steel skids, frame mounted rock sliders, plus whatever other crap I’ve thrown in the back. Not much basis for comparison with other mfgs, but I’m happy with the ride and quality of the Dobinsons kit.

Dobinsons USA IMS kit…
https://dobinsonusa.com/products/do...ft-kit-ford-bronco-4-door-2021-on-dsskit22fb/

Dobinsons USA MMR kit…
https://dobinsonusa.com/products/do...ft-kit-ford-bronco-4-door-2021-on-dsskit22fb/


Off The Grind has YouTube videos on the Dobinsons IMS and MMR.




My 22 Wildtrack running stock size 35” tires on Method zero offset wheels.

 

[EasternSierra]

This one?

That's the one - thanks so much!

Given that the Badlands non-Sas suspension rides just 0.43" lower than the Sas, it looks to me like putting on even just an inch of lift puts it well above the CV limit at full droop, though not to the point of binding. I'd think this would be hard on the CV joints over time. Based on the chart, I'd think two inches of lift would benefit from a diff drop.

I'm looking at getting Eibachs, but also putting on an ARB bumper with grille guard and winch which will tend to bring down the front a bit. I'd like an inch or two of net suspension lift but not at the cost of risking the CV joints over time.

My use case will be: (1) road trips with a variety of off-roading added in here and there (rough but not extreme), and (2) winter trips in the snow on pavement or easy dirt. If there's no offroad on a non-snow trip then we'll take our 2WD van instead.

 

[turbo_jimbo]

That's what is killing me, this HOSS 3.0 suspension setup rides great in all conditions on 1.5" perch. Maybe I just add and inch or two (depends how I measure out) in rear and play the preload game one more round, see how it wheels, then decide on whether its time for a new set of coilovers.

The problem with the HOSS 3.0 is that with a moderate to heavy load, the struts cannot rebound quickly enough to absorb bumps. The shock length gets shorter and shorter and can’t overcome it after a short distance. The shock ends up collapsed until the weight is removed.

They’re undersprung and undervalved for extra weight. There’s no collar or bracket that’s going to fix that.

they ride nice with no load around town, but carrying gear off-road is less than cool. Full Carolina squat mode.

 

[Sitruc_btb]

That's the one - thanks so much!

Given that the Badlands non-Sas suspension rides just 0.43" lower than the Sas, it looks to me like putting on even just an inch of lift puts it well above the CV limit at full droop, though not to the point of binding. I'd think this would be hard on the CV joints over time. Based on the chart, I'd think two inches of lift would benefit from a diff drop.

I'm looking at getting Eibachs, but also putting on an ARB bumper with grille guard and winch which will tend to bring down the front a bit. I'd like an inch or two of net suspension lift but not at the cost of risking the CV joints over time.

My use case will be: (1) road trips with a variety of off-roading added in here and there (rough but not extreme), and (2) winter trips in the snow on pavement or easy dirt. If there's no offroad on a non-snow trip then we'll take our 2WD van instead.

Here's a other chart showing some other shock lengths compared to factory.
Some of the shocks are pushing 24.6". Rock Krawler's front shocks are at 25.2". They say that's when they noticed the cv's got tight on rotation.

I have 1.5" spacers on top of Badlands non squatch shocks, so that makes them 24.5" total length. Around the aftermarket shock lengths.
I did install a diff drop to decrease the CV angles. I have a thread on it. Got some before and after measurements.

 

[Sitruc_btb]

Maybe I,m reading it wrong, but @87-Z28 chart has the King’s extending almost a full inch over OEM…not sure how significant that is to CV wear compared to .3”

Correct. The post said the limit was 24.3", and king maxes out at 24.6. 1.3" over factory length, and 0.3" over the limit.

 

[Broncarado]

Probably a silly question. If I were to want to swap the factory Badlands SAS suspension from the Bilstein's to the Fox that come with the Wildtrak do I need to change the springs out too? It was built in October so should already have the upgraded rack and rods.

 

[B22-2023]

The problem with the HOSS 3.0 is that with a moderate to heavy load, the struts cannot rebound quickly enough to absorb bumps. The shock length gets shorter and shorter and can’t overcome it after a short distance. The shock ends up collapsed until the weight is removed.

They’re undersprung and undervalved for extra weight. There’s no collar or bracket that’s going to fix that.

they ride nice with no load around town, but carrying gear off-road is less than cool. Full Carolina squat mode.

More measurements. Your point about shock shortening has me planning to measure the empty/curbside eye-to-eye compression of these Fox 2.5s, just to see where I am in the range given my curbside weight.That and the other standard measurements will lead me to which mod to do (coilovers vs spacers).

I’m over the squat for sure, and there's a little when sitting empty - curb weight plus worn-in perched springs, how is that compressing the shock? I’ll find out.

Whatever it is I’ll bet they or the springs were almost fully compressed in this picture, and unfortunately we had to do rough access roads a few hours loaded up to get to a campsite last trip - never again.

 

[indio22]

More measurements. Your point about shock shortening has me planning to measure the empty/curbside eye-to-eye compression of these Fox 2.5s, just to see where I am in the range given my curbside weight.That and the other standard measurements will lead me to which mod to do (coilovers vs spacers).

I’m over the squat for sure, and there's a little when sitting empty - curb weight plus worn-in perched springs, how is that compressing the shock? I’ll find out.

Whatever it is I’ll bet they or the springs were almost fully compressed in this picture, and unfortunately we had to do rough access roads a few hours loaded up to get to a campsite last trip - never again.

Too bad there isn't a way to increase spring rate or at least rear lift on a temp basis, only when the Bronco is loaded up. Back in the day air shocks were a thing, my buddy had the back of his '72 Skylark jacked up with them. The amount of lift could be adjusted with an air pump. Probably not the ticket off-road though.

 

[turbo_jimbo]

I believe the eibach springs will work, but then the ride quality the rest of the time suffers, and they aren’t really matched to the fox valving.

More, the fox shocks only work in a small range of motion. Not at the top and not at the bottom. A short range in the middle. Makes them junk for off-road in my opinion. HOSS 3.0 really needs the fox shocks replaced with coilovers to accommodate whatever loads you will be carrying.

 

[Broncarado]

I believe the eibach springs will work, but then the ride quality the rest of the time suffers, and they aren’t really matched to the fox valving.

More, the fox shocks only work in a small range of motion. Not at the top and not at the bottom. A short range in the middle. Makes them junk for off-road in my opinion. HOSS 3.0 really needs the fox shocks replaced with coilovers to accommodate whatever loads you will be carrying.

Assuming you were replying to my post. thank you that makes sense

 

[mike8675309]

I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around it. The difference between sprung and unspung -

I always think of it this way. Sprung weight is what the springs are supporting. Unsprung weight is the weight of the things that move and are attached to the springs.
Sprung weight not moving doesn't impart things like torque or acceleration or impact. Unspring weight imparts torque, acceleration, and impact on the springs. Less unsprung weight = more responsive suspension, as the more weight, the more resistance to change.
Think of lightweight clutches, flywheels, balancers, crankshafts. If they are lighter, they can change their velocity faster. Same with suspension, less unsprung weight means things can happen faster, less drama, and more responsive. Better said, more efficient.

I just want to clarify, is it necessary to get a lift to tackle some tough trails? There has been stock SAS Broncos that have completed the Rubican...

snacktime already responded, but yeah, it comes down to how good of a driver are you, and how willing are you to bang up your Bronco. You can do it, but do you really want to? Lift things up, put some bigger tires on it, and a lot of the drama goes away.

The Kings exceed the factory limits. Are owners with King shocks stressing the cv's? Or is 0.3" negligible?

I know vendors have noted the issue with King front shocks, and some supply spacers for Kings to avoid the CV bind that can happen with them.

Here was a good video comparing King and Fox shocks that most Bronco owners thinking of upgrades should be familiar with.

 

[GreyZ]

I may have missed it, but does anyone know the collapsed length and full extension length of the 4wp coilovers?

 

[crenca]

I may have missed it, but does anyone know the collapsed length and full extension length of the 4wp coilovers?

See post number 96 just above

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